She Stole the Sun
by electrakitty74
Summary: Collins tries to keep watch over Angel, but her music invades his dreams


**Title: **She Stole the Sun  
**Author:** Sarah  
**Feedback:** Love it, please leave it. . .positive or negative  
**Pairing: **Collins/Angel  
**Word Count: **818  
**Rating: **PG-13 (language)  
**Genre: **Angst/songfic  
**Summary: **Collins sleeps by Angel's bedside, her music shapes his dreams  
**Notes: **I've been trying to work this song into a fic for awhile. . .we'll see how well I did.  
**Special Thanks: ** **eudaimon**, **joannespm**, **pockyjunkie**, **scotsinkilts**,**sflynn**, and**shillaire**, and my mom. . .I love you all ;)  
**Spoilers: **Angel's sick  
**Warnings: **One little swear word  
**Disclaimer: **I don't own RENT or Million Miles Away (thanks Jim Boyd, for loaning me your lovely lyrics)

_Let's rent a car and drive it,  
A million miles away  
Let's start a fire and survive it.  
A million miles away  
Let's steal the sun and hide it,  
A million miles away  
Let's find a storm and ride it,  
A million miles away_

It's late all around and he's learned to sleep sitting up. Several days ago, the night nurse took pity on him and brought him a more comfortable chair. He suspects it came from their personal lounge and he is grateful. Sleeping in it is not much easier than it was in the original plastic one which was here, but at least he wakes up in less pain. Her radio plays continually and interrupts his dreams, but he never mentions it. Soft music helps her sleep better and he will gladly endure no sleep for her.

The song shifts, changes to yet another acoustic song which belongs in Roger's famously eclectic music collection. Mark raided Roger's music and made at least twenty mix tapes which Angel keeps playing continuously. The sweetness of that gesture makes Collins wonder yet again if Mark has feelings for Angel he's not ready to talk about. _Doesn't matter,_ he decides, shifting and trying to find a good position to sleep.

_When I see your face in the firelight  
I wonder how the fire started  
Some people might call you pretty  
But I'd call you broken-hearted  
And I've got a map in my pocket  
That has your name written in blue  
I'll follow you like a river  
If you just guide me through._

_I must be dreaming._ There she is, smiling at him, the dying flames of a barrel fire reflecting off her beautiful skin, whole, healthy, complete. Pussy Galore to the teeth, wearing her blowtorch around her neck, blonde hair in her eyes. _So beautiful_ She reaches out to him, takes his hand, leads him away, laughing. He follows her, hand in hand. _To the ends of the Earth, if that's what she commands. _

_When I see you dance in the barlight  
I wonder when the song'll end  
Some people might think you graceful  
But I think you're brittle and bent  
And I've got a map in my pocket  
Where every town is named for you  
I'll make a stop in all of 'em  
If you just guide me through_

His beer in hand, Joanne by his side, Collins watches them, the three of them, dancing, laughing, seeming to float in the flashing lights. Maureen messes up the rhythm, knocks them all down. He laughs too as all three fall in a heap, elbowing Joanne who shakes her head, smiling, and takes another pull off her beer. Angel comes to him, sweaty, drunk, out of breath, flushed, _glorious_ and puts herself backward on his lap, straddling him and kissing him hungrily, taking his breath away too.

_When I see you read by the candlelight  
I wonder if you'll hurt your eyes  
Some people like happy endings  
But I've always liked a surprise  
And I've got a map here in my pocket  
That shows where Lucifer fell  
Ya I'll fall from Heaven  
If you'd just guide me through Hell_

A few weeks ago, he'd sat, power outage again, reading. Couldn't sleep, afraid he was keeping her awake, he'd removed himself to the living room. 3am and he was reading Dante. _Never could figure out what's so funny about the Divine Comedy._ Making himself smile slightly, taking what he can get. She appeared just inside the sphere of the candle's glow, her skin pale, marred by lesions, no longer beautiful to anyone but him, sleepy, cranky, and lonely. She'd pushed his book away like a child needing attention, and put herself in his lap, arms around his neck. Sighing, he put his chin on top of her head, wondering what his life would be without her. _Nothing, is what, happy endings are overrated. _

Awakening, he looked at her, so tiny and frail in her bed, terrified for an instant she'd be gone. For the first time since he was a small boy, he worried about eternity. What if the priests were right? Was his girl condemned for accidents of biology? He decided he didn't fucking care. If she was, then so was he, and that wasn't so bad, was it?

Exhausted and overtaxed, he wiped at his face, trying to work out some way, some kind of escape. Not for himself, for them. There was no way out now. Santa Fe was a pipe dream and he knew it. Didn't keep him from dreaming it though.

_Let's rent a car and drive it,  
A million miles away  
Let's start a fire and survive it.  
A million miles away  
Let's steal the sun and hide it,  
A million miles away  
Let's find a storm and ride it,  
A million miles away,  
A million miles away_


End file.
